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FAQ

All those questions that everyone "always wanted to know" and get asked at nearly every Q&A screening: batting back replies to the same frequently asked questions gets a bit repetitions so forgive me for a few dry-humoured answers thrown back!

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- Did you always want to be a film-maker?

-No, I had always aspired to be a writer or dancer, though film-making to me is really writing or dancing with images in film. When I was in school I aspired to be journalist, to my mother's relief. When I was a child, I remember my mother telling family friends I wanted to be a lawyer, but I said no, I really wanted to be a gameshow hostess. (I was only 6, and the hostess was a rather glamorous TV celebrity that left me in awe!)

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- How long did it take you to film and/or edit (whatever)... how much footage did you take of (whatever)... and how much did (whatever) cost?

- too much and too long, I don't want to think about it! If I thought too much about those things I might never make another independent film again, and if I explained those things to others they might also understand the thin line between passion and lunacy!

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- What equipment did you shoot and edit (whatever) with?

- a camera and a computer, just like Hollywood!

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-What investment have you received in your films?

- Many many people have invested their couches for me to sleep on , especially while I was shooting and marketing my films overseas, which I consider is really an open hearted investment in the future of these films and a shared passion for pure friendship and pure film-making - the best kind of investment there is! THANKS & I hope I put your couch back OK.

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Do you make porn?

What?! No! Yet isn't it amazing what just a few words about 'sex' does for your website hits?!... and your box office for that matter! (and my website hits probably just went up AGAIN just now because I used the S word...)

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-Your favourite film festival?

Palm Beach International Film Festival! Hats off to Hal and team! Especially for even offering me and (Venice Magazine editor) Alex Simon that red Mustang for a quick ride to Miami beach... Though Alex would have been even happier had we found those famed cuban cigars...

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- Most memorable film festival moment?

Just 3 spring to mind;

- my first film festival, a curated exhibition of experimental film art at Sydney's most prestigious art gallery. My short 'Silent Night' is at the end of a very long and arduously weird program. The lights dim and I wait expectantly for my short to begin... then I realise they're accidentally playing my 'professional fairy' showreel instead (thanks to the projectionist who miscued the tape)!

-arriving in Worldfest Houston, the first film-maker I meet says "oh I just love films from Australia. Especially ones from New Zealand"!

-arriving in Palm Beach on the red eye special from LA, I'm relieved to make it to my fancy hotel room courtesy of the fest. But just a few hours later the publicists wake me to rush me for a supposed TV interview in 15 minutes, feeling very jetlagged I throw on my hottest red dress and full makeup for a little extra confidence. I get to the studio and wonder, where are the cameras? Later that night Hal Axler (now PBIFF festival director) loves joking to everyone "Wendy was the best dressed woman on radio today!"

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- Did you really meet Pierce Brosnan?

Yes, and he even gave me his phone number! (True- He asked me to send him my films, and told me to "keep on making movies". WILL DO - Thanks Pierce!)

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- Why have you been making documentaries when your background is in drama?

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. Or at least in my life anyway!

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- What advice do you have for emerging film-makers?

- JUST DO IT! (and preferably get lots of big corporate sponsors too!)

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Can I make a film about you?

Well I've already been asked for the rights to my life story... but who's going to star in it? ...

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- Were you 'kissed by a crocodile'?

- Now that would be like giving away the ending of the movie! You'll have to see the film to find out!

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- How could you film the doc while you were also in it, as one of the subjects too?

It's amazing how good digital technology is these days. You can even point a camera and shoot yourself too.

- Well Palm Beach is a very trendy place where people appreciate beauty and a good beach. But Hal Axler the Palm Beach International Film Festival director likes to joke with me that there were a few people adjusting their pace-makers and mopping their brow at the close up bikini shots in Girls From Ipanema. But I clearly remember a comment I overheard from an elderly gent in the backrow, commenting about the audience favourite vote (where you rank a film from 1-5, depending on how much you liked it, the best score for the best film being 5). It was during the bikini catwalk sequence. He leaned across to his friend and squealed "well this one gets 5 !"